How Far Little New Hampshire Has Fallen for the Republicans

If Republican Sen. Judd Gregg agrees to become President Obama’s Commerce Secretary—as everybody seems to think likely—most of his comrades in the GOP think part of the deal will be an agreement that the state’s Democratic governor, John Lynch, will fill his seat temporarily with either a Republican or an independent.

And sure, that would help Republicans retain the strength they have now in the Senate. But it would hardly be enough to stem the decline of overall Republican strength in the state of New Hampshire. On that front, the slide has been steep, and the Gregg gambit may well keep it going.

In fact, few states have slid as far away from the Republicans in the last two decades as has little New Hampshire.